This invention pertains to locksmith""s tools and methods, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for drilling locks.
In many situations it is desired to gain legitimate access to a locked entry or enclosure by circumventing a lock, such as when a key has been lost or damaged and no other key to the lock can be found. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,984,594 and 4,714,386, assigned to the assignee of the present invention, disclose apparatus and methods for gaining access to locked enclosures made from hardened or heavy gauge material, such as combination safes. These devices include a drill rig structure which may be attached to a safe to support a drill adjacent to the lock of the safe. Once a desired drilling location has been determined, the drill rig is used to gradually advance the drill into the material to create a hole through which the internal workings of the lock may be viewed. The hole permits the correct combination to be ascertained, whereby the safe may be opened. While these devices are useful for gaining access to heavy-duty safes, a number of other lockable closures are not constructed as sturdily and simpler means may be used to gain access to the closure. For example, conventional cabinet drawers, and doors such as those used on entries to rooms, residences, and buildings, generally are not constructed to withstand drilling. Furthermore, these types of closures are typically secured with a key lock, whereby the ability to view the internal workings of the lock can only be gained at the expense of damaging the lock and will not generally facilitate opening the lock.
Prior methods of gaining access to a key-locked closures include the picking of locks, which requires a significant amount of time and skill and may ultimately result in damage to the lock. Furthermore, gaining access by picking the lock may be difficult when faced with an improved, pick-proof type lock. Other methods of gaining access to a locked enclosure may cause damage to the keyway or the lock cylinder requiring replacement of the lock cylinder. However, replacement of the lock cylinder is not desirable due to the expense and difficulty of obtaining a new cylinder. This is especially true if the same or similarly keyed locks are used throughout a facility whereby the replaced cylinder would have to be re-keyed to match existing locks.
There is thus a need for a method and apparatus for gaining legitimate access to locked enclosures which overcomes drawbacks of prior art methods and apparatus, such as those described above.
The present invention provides a lock drilling template and method for gaining legitimate access to a locked enclosure using the lock drilling template. Advantageously, access may be obtained while preserving the keyway and lock cylinder for subsequent use and while causing only minimal damage to the lock housing. In this regard, the lock drilling template may be used to accurately locate a correct position on a lock housing for drilling a small hole through the housing to disable one or more retainers which secure the lock cylinder in the housing. The lock drilling template may be used on a variety of different types of keyed locks to indicate a correct location for drilling a hole through the lock retainer, which may be a pin, button, bolt, or other retaining device.
In one aspect of the invention, a key blank for a lock may be coupled to a first member of the drilling template such that the template can be located on the lock by inserting the key blank into the lock. The template includes a second member, having marks disposed on its surface to indicate orientation with respect to the key blank, and a third member which is movable with respect the second member. The third member has a hole that is sized to receive a drill bit, whereby alignment of the hole with one of the marks on the second member indicates a desired location for drilling into the lock.
In another aspect of the invention, a kit for drilling locks includes a first member couplable with a key blank for a lock, a second member coupled to the first member and having marks to indicate orientation with respect to the key blank, a third member movably coupled to the first member and having a hole sized to receive a drill bit, and key blanks which may be received in a variety of different locks.
In yet another aspect of the invention, the first member is a stud adapted to receive a key blank, the second member is a dial ring having graduations around a circumferential edge of the ring, and the third member is a guide assembly which is rotatably mounted to the stud. The guide assembly has an aperture for receiving a drill bit. The aperture may be aligned with the graduations on the dial ring by rotating the guide assembly, whereby a desired location for drilling into the lock is indicated.
In yet another aspect of the invention, a method for gaining access to a locked enclosure includes selecting a key blank corresponding to the lock, coupling the key blank to a lock drilling template, inserting the key blank into the lock, manipulating the template to locate a desired drilling location, and drilling a hole into the lock at the indicated location.
These and other aspects, advantages, objectives and features of the invention will become more readily apparent to those of ordinary skill upon review of the following Detailed Description of an illustrative embodiment of the invention.